Buying an After-Market Motor for Your Portable Generator: Things You Should Look Out For

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Ingenious and Intriguing Industrial and Manufacturing Blogs

If you work in the manufacturing industry, you may need a few tips to make your job more efficient. Similarly, if you are a consumer of industrial items, you may also want some buying ideas, safety tips, product comparisons and more. Hello. My name is Dorothy Lee, and this niche fascinates me, so I decided to start a blog about it. I hope to answer your most important questions and possibly even answer some questions you didn't know you had. I am mum and a freelance writer, and I have one daughter who recently started uni. I love to research a range of things and pull from my own experiences to create unique blogs that will appeal to a range of different people.

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Buying an After-Market Motor for Your Portable Generator: Things You Should Look Out For

1 August 2016
 Categories: , Blog


Ordinarily, you would barely think about your electricity unless it is time to pay the bill or the power goes out. Well, having the right kind of portable generator in your home helps you to maintain the power supply to keep things running. The generator's motor is among its most important components needed to get the engine running. Motor failures are a common problem that you will experience when using your generator. Such breakdowns can result from recurrent motor overheating or extreme heating in one instance, which damages the insulation on the stator winding. If you are looking to buy an after-market motor for your portable generator, here are some of the things you should look out for:

Minimum Energy Performance Standard (MEPS)

Look out for the Minimum Energy Performance Standard certification on the packaging of the motor. This label is an indication that your motor has been designed according to internationally recognised policies and standards on energy efficiency. An energy efficient motor simply means that you won't be using too much fuel to start and keep the motor running. This helps you save money. 

Vacuum Pressure Impregnation (VPI)

Vacuum pressure impregnation (VPI) is a process aimed at improving the efficiency and durability of a motor. In VPI, the motor is submerged in a chemical resin and subjected to immense pressure. The process takes place in a wet and dry vacuum environment so that the chemical resin can assimilate into the insulation system used on the motor. Subjecting them to high temperatures ensures that the windings impregnated on the motor are of a homogenous and monolithic structure.

VPI treatment of a motor results in improved dialectics strength. This means that the motor has good insulation strength, enabling the generator to produce and sustain the supply of a certain desired voltage level. It also protects the motor against the ingress and effects of water and chemicals used in the generator. Lastly, VPI boosts the thermal inductivity of the motor to reduce the chances of overheating. When buying, look out for VPI labels on the packaging of the motor or ask your vendor if the motor has undergone VPI.

Surge Wattage

The motor surge wattage is the amount of power used to start and run the motor. Ideally, you should go for a motor with the lowest surge wattage based on the options availed by your dealer. This will ensure that it can start and run even when the generator isn't performing at its optimal best.